Device for the treatment or impregnation of rayon and similar textile fibers



Get. 16, 1951 B. sTEvERLYNcK 2,571,305

DEVICE FOR THE TREATMENT OR IMPREGNATION OF RAYON AND SIMILAR TEXTILE FIBERS Filed MaFCh 10, 1948 v Pff? Patented oef. 16, 1951 DEVICE FOR THE TREATMENT R IMPREG- NATION 0F RAYON AND SIMILAR TEXTILE FIBERS Baldewijn Steverlynck, Courtrai, Belgium Application March 10, 1948, Serial No. 14,048 In the Netherlands March 11, 1947 1 Claim.

When spinning rayon, the solidliled thread is carried and urged against a cylinder that rotates at a considerable speed so that it produces a socalled spinning cake which is a reel of threads crossing one another in this cylinder. When this cake has reached the desired size, it is removed from the cylinder the removal being facilitated by the slightly tapering shape of the cylinder and wrapped into Wide mesh fabric such as coarse muslin so as to protect the vulnerable rayon thread during subsequent operation. 'Ihe further treatment of the rayon, for instance through bleaching, dyeing, reinforcing and the like treatments is executed nowadays chiefly on skeins. This practice makes unwinding of the thread indispensable. With a view to avoiding such an unwinding it has been attempted to treat the rayon thread in its cake form, but this requires considerable care in order to avoid the resulting damaging of these threads that are extremely thin and of a delicate structure.

The rayon thread has the property of swelling highly when dipped into a liquid and this swelling lis especially important when it is immersed into strongly alkaline baths such as those used for dyeing with vat colors. This swelling makes the penetration of the baths between the fibres very diiiicult, which produces, for instance, irregularities or spots that have not been dyed by the dyeing bath.

The present invention has for its object an arrangement by which the cake is held in a manner such that the improvement baths are uniformly and regularly distributed between the threads of the cake, without damaging or entangling the latter, so that after drying the cake, the thread may\ be unwound quite normally. According to this invention, the purpose is reached by placing into the cake a special tubular carrier that may be termed a sleeve. This sleeve has ports allowing the free passage of the various liquids used. As the sleeve is also elastically extensible in radial direction, it fits perfectly against the inner walls of the cake, as soon as the sleeve is released.

The sleeve is made preferably from a plate of thin perforated inoxidisable material, which plate is bent in a roll in a manner such that the two 0pposite edges are caused to overlap over a certain width, and usually over the whole height of the sleeve, which gives to the latter a certain transversal elasticity. It is preferable to form the sleeve into a somewhat conical shape, for instance a conical shape matching the inner wall of the cake. In addition, the sleeve has a lower conical flange serving as a lower bearing for the cake so that the latter cannot slide of! the sleeve.

The particular shape given to the perforated supports forming the object of the invention allows them to easily fit into one another each of them carrying its cake so that the whole arrangement forms a column which is homogeneous, i. e. uninterrupted.

According to a preferred form of execution of the invention, the sleeves have for instance three stops on their inner surface, for automatically limitating the penetration of the underlying sleeve. This disposition allows the lower cakes of the column not to be more compressed than the top ones, and secures thus an equal pressure upon any cake, whatever its position in the column.

Such columns consisting of an appropriate number of cakes provided with sleeves are placed into the dyeing apparatus or treating vat. The upper sleeve of each column is covered by a cap which has for its object to keep the liquid for treating the material from running. The caps of the columns arranged in the vat are in their turn covered by the cover of said vat which thus provides stability for the piled up system. Therefore it is suihcient to introduce into the vat the improving substances in the usual manner, and these substances are caused to circulate by means of a pump also in the usual manner. The liquids rise through the hollow chimneys or columns and pass through the perforated Wall of the sleeves and between the cake bres by flowing radially towards the outside or the inside respectively. These treating materials contact the textile material in the most efdcient manner and pass between all the bres while the cake threads are retained during the whole operation, in the most favorable manner.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a sleeve with a radial cross-section through the cake carried by it.

Fig. 2 is a transversal cross-section through line II--II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of a sleeve carrying a cake.

Fig. 4 is a radial cross section through a portion of a sleeve chimney or upright.

In the arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, the support forming the main object of the invention is chiey constituted by a sleeve formed by a tubular element I which is perforated and' slightly conical in shape, said element being bent so that its two lopposite lateral edges l-I may overlap partly. which imparts a certain trans` versal elasticity on to said support.

The conicity ofthe body i of the sleeve is preferably equal or almost equal to the conicity of the inner wall 4 of the cake l of which said sleeve forms the support during the treatment of the fibrous material. The lower edge of the slightly frusto-conical body I extends under the shape of a conical flange l. The inner wall of the body I may include for instance three equidistant stops 1-8--0 arranged at the same level and which support their sleeve upon the top edge of the underlying sleeve, whereby the extension of the underlying sleeve into the upper sleeve is thereby automatically limited. The body I has perforations or openings Il that are preferably uniformly distributed throughout the surface of the sleeve. This design of a perforated or openworked support allows a very easy positioning of the cake B over it, since the upper diameter of the body I is slightly smaller than the lower diameter of the opening into the cake l. Moreover, it is indispensable to compress the sleeve te position it into the cake by exerting on its an inwardly directed pressure so as to temporarily reduce its diameter. When this pressure is released and when the cake 5 is correctly positioned, the sleeve I exerts through its own elasticity a radial pressure on the cake I which is light `but constant and uniform throughout the inner surface of the cake, and which has for its effect to provide a great stability in position and a proper securing f of the cake during its treatment. Moreover, in order to form the upright or chimney, said shape of the perforated sleeve has also a beneficial action by reason of the diiference between the upper and lower diameters of the sleeve body which makes it possible to fit them partly inside one another with a great facility, the edge of each sleeve being clamped by the inner stops in the next sleeve. It is thus possible to obtain for each chimney a reliable stability, an equal pressure, and consequently utmost safety, through the partial fitting of the supperposed sleeves inside one another through their mutual supporting and through their permanent radial tensioning.

The lower conical flange 6 carries the cake and protects it against any untimely sliding.' It is obviously also possible to give the body I, the conical edges 6 and the ports I0 shapes and sizes thatareessentiallyvarisble whereby itispolibs tomakethesrrangementaeeordingtetheinvenf tionmiteachcaseandinpsrticulareaehfibro material undergoing treatment and also methods for treating the latter.

what I claim is:

A device for the treatment or impregnation rayon .and similar textile fibres. comprising, in combination, a plurality of holders, each holder consisting of a perforated elastic element of comparatively small conicity, said element having freely overlapping side edges and a lower edge having the form of an outwardly extending iiange.therayoncakesbeingcarrieduponths outer surfaces of said elements and being in oontact with each other, said elements being mounted directly one upon the other, and extending one above the other, whereby the radial elasticity of said elements is retained during impregnation and whereby said elements are maintained in eontinuous contact with the cakes carried thereby. projecting stops carried by an inner wall of each of said elements, and ensasins the upper edges of the underlying element to maintain uniform pressure upon all the cakes, said stops extending inwardly from the inner walls, the upper edge of each element being smaller than the inner diameter of the cake carried thereby. the elements being mounted upon each other in telescopim relationship.

BALDIWIJN BTIVIRLYNC'K.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the lerof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 942,166 Danieli Dec. 1, i000 2,004,419 Schumacher June il, 1036 2,065,526 Huttinger Dec. 29, im 2,086,100 Steiger July 6, 1931 2,153,420 Huttinger Apr. 4, im 2,184,477 Siedler Dec. 26, 1039 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 421,492 France Dec. 23, 1910 438,504 France Mar. 19, 1912 461,251 France Oct. 24, 1913 '159,305 France Nov. 18, 1933 

